Current biomedical research training programs provide a foundation for research-related careers, with emphasis on research experience and deep domain knowledge. But, it is outside the scope of most training programs to afford trainees a great diversity of experiences and connections needed to support current demands for a diversity of career options and broadly applicable critical thinking skills. The IMPACT Program aims to fill that gap by providing trainees with a set of complementary experiences and resources that enhance their long-term career opportunities. The program design is based on the accumulated experience of antecedent programs at MIT and rests on three key principles: * Meaningful relationships: Fostering an environment and set of experiences through which trainees can develop meaningful relationships with mentors who have no supervisory relationship * Diverse community: Introducing trainees to mentors and other trainees whose professional experience and domain of expertise lies outside the sphere of their particular research area * Taking ownership: Providing opportunities for trainees to explore their future in a way that integrates their research and career interests, and provides them with strategies to independently forge their path. The IMPACT program will be open to postdoctoral and advanced predoctoral trainees in the Boston area and is enabled by the untapped desire on the part of many professionals in the biomedical ecosystem to give back through meaningful mentoring experiences. Through their active and longitudinal mentorship, trainees are challenged to imagine the future of their research to explore how in the long run (even very long run) it will lead to real-world impact; to develop their ability to communicate to diverse audiences; to explore and understand a variety of career paths; to develop their network; and to actively manage their career development. The program is augmented through outreach programming to broaden its effect by bringing faculty, nationwide, to participate and by actively engaging women and under-represented minorities. Upon completing the program, trainees will have developed and have a deepened understanding of their strengths, first-hand experiences with important personal and professional challenges that otherwise may take years to encounter, and greater confidence to make strategic decisions about their future. They will have expanded the size and scope of their professional network, which will serve them in decades to come.
The IMPACT Program is designed to enable in depth and meaningful relationships between participants and a number of professionally-diverse mentors and advisors. Upon completing the program, trainees will have obtained first-hand experiences exploring important personal and professional challenges that otherwise may take years to encounter, and greater confidence to make strategic decisions about their future.
| Purdon, Patrick L; Zhou, David W; Akeju, Oluwaseun et al. (2015) In reply. Anesthesiology 123:725-8 |
